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It’s been fun playing with the same characters and scenes from different POVs. There’s a big element of class tension in Kevin’s POV, which is why he falls for rich boys but also resents them.

Haha, I’m 31, and that line was definitely targeted at my 21-year-old self, who was substantially more of an idiot. I always imagined that Duncan (not incorrectly) sees Kevin as a young guy getting too attached to essentially a vacation fling.

Hopefully won't be too long a wait! I've had a lot of ebbs and flows with writing this year, but part of that's when I get stuck. (Luckily, the next few chapters are pretty well set-up, but who knows for sure.) Glad you're liking it though!

Haha, a good wow I hope!

One big difference between Kevin and Becker—at least, in terms of writing them—is that Kevin is a little more self-aware. Part of his growth in this story is coming to terms with the fact that he can’t keep running and hiding from his demons, but I think he’s making progress. Slowly but surely. And Becker and Kevin spend plenty of time making me crazy too, don’t worry!

Happy it’s worth the (sometimes extremely long) wait. It was a tough chapter to write, mostly because I couldn’t get the Duncan conversation right… it went through about 5 different iterations and settings. Still not convinced it’s perfect (but it’s also not the last we’re seeing of Duncan.) That said, I wish it could say it gets less complicated and tortured in the final few chapters, but…

Thanks, and glad you’re enjoying it now! I also think Becker’s experiences are a bit more universal—it’s based (loosely) off my own college experience, for what it’s worth. Kevin’s been harder to write, because he’s a much darker character wrestling with much bigger problems. But it’s been fun, for the same reason: to step into a different perspective. But there’s still plenty more in this story: ~3 more chapters!

It’s been tough juggling these two stories, because there are two moments where the stories cross over—the phone call, and another one that’s coming in chapter 9 of this story (I think.) This story’s set between January and March 2007, and Becker’s semester is set between January and May 2007, so I’ve had to slow roll a bit to keep consistency. Happy you’re enjoying both!

Thanks! Hope it was worth the wait.

So I fucked up last night. Or, really, am still fucking up. As Aaron Ackerman’s toned, twinkish body lay naked in my arms. Scraplets of memories flooding back: In the moment, I’ve never felt closer to anyone. Drunkenly tumbling to the bed. Aaron’s arms thrown around my shoulders. My hands, wandering underneath his clothes, his flat stomach. “I want you to fuck the shit out of me,” and I didn’t have to be told twice. Clothes flying through the air. “That’s the

Should be an “if” in front of “gets published,” but thank you! Luckily, this story is in *no* danger of being finished soon. ATW is about 60% done—10 or 11 chapters.

Thanks—it’s (very loosely) based on my college experience, so it’s been fun getting to re-create that world a bit. As for other works... currently finishing a short story that I’d like to get published-published, but otherwise, not a ton that’s really beyond first draft. Lots of ideas brewing for when I have more time though—maybe after ATW wraps up.

Thanks! It was one of those things where spring hit, then summer, work, moving, all that. And pretty soon, I realized I hadn't actually written anything in months. Good to be getting back into it.

Was a hectic few months, but glad to be writing again. Trying to balance "Against the World" (the Kevin story) with this one, just because I'm trying to keep the timelines lined up. (The next chapter in Kevin has his end of the phone call.) And yeah, Becker's definitely at the stage where he's having more and more sex... but feeling anxious and guilty afterwards. A phase of coming out that I definitely don't miss.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

Glad it was worth the wait! There are a lot of twists and turns through this semester--it's really my favorite, based on what I've written so far--but things are only going to get more complex for Becker. (And we do see Connor again--I like him too.)

“So,” I said to Ted, Tripp’s friend from high school, when I waited for him to finish filling his beer. “First Mardi Gras?” “First Mardi Gras in New Orleans,” he corrected, handing me the tap. “I’ve been to Biloxi’s, but my parents never would’ve let me do Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Not when I was in high school.” I’d first met Ted when I’d done Thanksgiving at the Callenders’ in Pass Christian, a year and a half ago. Remembered us changing into swimsuits in the same room, backs facing e

California's my (current) favorite as well, though I think that's mostly a function of it being the most fun to write (and I find Matt so adorable.) Paris has been a surprisingly tough needle to thread because there's so much nuance in Duncan and Kevin's relationship--they're both into it, but both not into it, at the same time. And New Orleans is, despite being arguably the storyline most people are here to read, less fun for me just because it's a lot of rewriting and re-editing things I already wrote. (And man, "Best Four Years" is so verbose and flabby--I don't know how you all made it through.) I agree, though, that Kevin was much more consistently hurt by Becker than Becker realized in "Best Four Years." Lines like "fuck buddies with a romantic component" are played lightly, so to speak, in "Best Four Years," but are really a knife to Kevin's heart here. (In that sense, it's been fun to completely change the tone and interpretation of existing dialogue--the early scene where they're flirting at a bar is my favorite example of this.) But I think I've said it before in the comments: I always considered the New York chapter to be the effective end of their relationship--when Kevin tried to take them public, and Becker rejected him--and saw everything from that point onward as a slow-motion breakup. Kevin was struggling so much with having to go back into the closet after being out. And Kevin definitely would benefit from therapy, because there's totally a pattern. Becker and Matt are quite different, but still two sides of the same coin: people who are, generally, not very concerned with being true to themselves. Which is tough. (And yes, Becker's family is absolutely not the problem.) I always considered Duncan Kevin's subconscious way of deciding that he's not going to set himself up for a fall this time, but of course seems to be heading in that direction anyway.

Glad you're liking it! The story (in the summary) promises three men from Kevin's past, and I consider those Matt, Becker, and Kevin's dad. (Duncan not being "in the past," so to speak.) Kevin's looking for someone who can fill the hole his dad left in his life--someone who can love him unconditionally and permanently and openly. Duncan's, in that sense, a defense mechanism--someone who can't disappoint him by falling short--but, of course, that's not really working out so well either.

Glad you're enjoying it. Things are definitely destined for a blowup though... which is tough because Kevin really has gotten some bad breaks, hasn't he. Definitely not the happiest story, which it really could never be based on what we already knew about Kevin's history, but I don't think it's one completely without hope either.

Mixing timeframes was always the plan, because I knew I wanted to tell "Becker" from Kevin's story but also highlight his time in "the present" too. But, as I started developing Kevin's voice, it actually worked well with his OCD--the idea that he's constantly being bombarded by intrusive thoughts and rumination. So, in a sense, it's not even just that it's three storylines but that they're all constantly churning in Kevin's head together. (And increasingly so; there's been increasingly more jumping between the storylines in a single chapter.)

I think all three timelines pair together well--Matt's kind of Kevin's first romance, whereas Becker's his first real relationship. And I think he was burned by both of them for different reasons, which leads him to Duncan--which cannot, for a variety of reasons, really progress beyond friends with benefits. But there's still more to come: looking at about 9 or 10 chapters for this one (depending on how I handle the final scenes.)

It's been fun to revisit old chapters of "Becker." (Though it's really put it into high relief how, to be my own worst critic here, "Becker" should've been edited more tightly than it was--the New York sex scene, actually, goes on for like 8 pages in Becker but I got it down to maybe 1-2 in this chapter.) He and Kevin did have some fun chemistry though. And like I've said: regardless of how this story ends, Kevin will eventually be folded back into "Becker," so there's still more plot there.

Yup, pivoting over to "Becker" now. Glad you're enjoying it--it's been fun on my end getting to unwrap Kevin a little bit, because he was never designed as a leading character. But it's been fun getting to fill in what we already knew about him.

“Fuck.” One word: lingered between us, caught in the still, desert air. Good fuck? Bad fuck? Heart pounding. Didn’t have the courage to ask. I’d never been speechless around Matt before. Never been nervous. Not like this. I love you, I wanted to say. I’m in love with you, and I’ve felt this way since the moment I met you. He said: Fuck. “I’m sorry,” I told him. Without specificity. Sorry for what? Didn’t know. Hoped he wouldn’t ask. Matt exhaled. Looke